Research Article

Adoption of mobile instant messaging tools among higher education students: Scale development

Tatiana I. Ladykova 1 , Lyudmila S. Chikileva 2 , Svetlana A. Vorobiova 3 * , Kseniia M. Chugaeva 4 , Elena P. Kalashnikova 5 , Valentina V. Latysheva 6
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1 Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, RUSSIA2 Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow, RUSSIA3 Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, RUSSIA4 MIREA–Russian Technological University, Moscow, RUSSIA5 Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow, RUSSIA6 Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University), Moscow, RUSSIA* Corresponding Author
Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 16(1), January 2026, e202611, https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/18084
Published: 12 March 2026
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ABSTRACT

This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable scale to measure higher education students’ adoption levels of mobile instant messaging (MIM) tools. Within the scope of the study, a comprehensive literature review was conducted, an item pool of 53 items was created and content validity was ensured by consulting expert opinions. A pilot study was conducted with 23 participants to evaluate the comprehensibility of the scale. Data were collected from 351 higher education students to evaluate the psychometric properties of the scale. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, it was determined that the scale had a three-factor structure as “ease of use and usefulness,” “flexible learning and collaboration” and “concerns.” Confirmatory factor analysis supported this structure (CFI = 0.91, TLI = 0.902, SRMR = 0.049, RMSEA = 0.0734). The reliability coefficients of the scale were high (Cronbach’s α = 0.962, McDonald’s ω = 0.968). Latent profile analysis revealed that the students were divided into four different profiles: “passionate advocates,” “positive pragmatic users,” “balanced users,” and “abstaining adopters.” Analyses of demographic variables showed that younger students have a more positive view of MIM technologies and that women are more cautious about MIM use than men. The scale developed in this study is a valuable tool that can be used to evaluate the use of MIM technologies in higher education, identify different user profiles and plan the integration of MIM technologies into educational processes. Future studies are recommended to test the scale in different cultural contexts and examine the effects of MIM use on academic performance.
Keywords: mobile instant messaging, higher education, scale development, WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat

CITATION (APA)

Ladykova, T. I., Chikileva, L. S., Vorobiova, S. A., Chugaeva, K. M., Kalashnikova, E. P., & Latysheva, V. V. (2026). Adoption of mobile instant messaging tools among higher education students: Scale development. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 16(1), e202611. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/18084

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